Christmas Snow
by obsessedteenagefangirl
Summary: A one-shot about Fred and Hermione at Christmas time after the War (Fred is alive, obviously!). My first ever published story! Please give it a read and a review, it would be much appreciated. xx


Hermione loved the snow, especially at Christmas. Ever since she was a child, she had loved the way that the snow made Christmas so much more magical. Loved it almost as much as she loved reading and learning. She loved the way it made everything so much more beautiful, and she loved the way she could sit and watch it for hours on end, curled up in the warmth with a good book.

As she watched the snow fall gently onto the ground, she sighed. Everything was just right. Voldemort was gone, everyone she loved dearly had survived the War and she had recently completed the successful requirements to become a Healer, something she discovered she wanted to do after she spent hours upon hours healing the injured in the Great Hall after the Dark Lord fell.

"Hermione!" The voice of Ginny Weasley sung out, and Hermione turned, smiling contently at her fiery haired friend.

"Yes Ginny?" She replied.

"We're all going out to have a snowball fight and just muck around in the snow, come with us, please? It will be fun!" Ginny pleaded, taking Hermione's hands. Hermione sighed.

"But, I've just gotten to the good part of book!" Hermione held it up, as if for proof, to show her friend that she was clearly already having fun. Ginny groaned and took the book from Hermione's hands and placed it down somewhere else.

"Come on, Hermione, its Christmas Eve!"

Hermione looked at a friend for a few seconds, before standing up and nodding. "Fine." With a squeal, Ginny hopped off, gleefully shouting to the rest of the Weasleys and Harry that Hermione would be joining them. Hermione made her way up the room she and Ginny shared to pull on something a bit warmer and friendlier for snow, before meeting the rest of Weasleys down stairs, along with Harry, and they all marched outside into the cold air. Almost immediately, Fred and George had run off to conjure a giant fort from the snow, creating a barrier from the opposing forces with malicious grins. It was no secret that the twins didn't go easy on anyone. Bill and Charlie seemed to pair off too, Harry and Ron following suit. The girls were left with each other, and while Hermione seemed a bit wary, Ginny seemed to be determined to prove she could beat the boys, so Hermione copied Fred and George's idea of a fort, but with a few flicks of her wand, she created a giant pile of snow balls. Without further hesitance from anyone, magical snowballs were soon flying through the hair.

Hermione found herself having fun after not too long. Her hair had gone wild and her cheeks were flushed with the harsh cold but she didn't care. She charmed a snowball to fly at Fred, and it smacked him straight in the face, and she let out a big laugh. He rounded on Hermione and raised an eyebrow, before his face went blank.

Fred couldn't stop staring at Hermione. Her hair was tousled slightly and her cheeks had a lovely rosy glow to them. She was breathing heavily and her lips were pursed slightly as she stared back at him. All Fred could think of was how much he'd love to take her in his arms and kiss her tenderly, and all Hermione could think of was how she'd always wished he would notice her and think of her as something more than his little brother's friend. But right now, all he was probably thinking was how messy her hair was and how unpleasant the wind was making her look. Time seemed to slow for Fred and Hermione, as they stared at each other, before their trance like state was broken by a well-aimed snowball to the back of Fred's head, thrown, of course, by his twin.

Fred shook his head and rounded on George, countering his attack with a flurry of snowballs sent straight for him. Hermione blinked a few times, before trotting through the snow back to the fort she had created. Ginny took a break from flinging snowballs at Bill to turn to Hermione.

"What was that back there? You and Fred were just… staring at each other for ages?" She questioned. Hermione shrugged, a bit dazed. Ginny raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The girls turned back to the fight and kept throwing show around, however Hermione couldn't get her mind off Fred and the look he had given her. Tingles ran through her body as she thought of it and she felt her cheeks flush once more.

After a while, everyone trudged back inside once it got too cold and wet and the sun started going down, where hot chocolates with giant marshmallows awaited them, fixed up by Mrs Weasley.

Everyone gathered in the lounge room where Christmas Carols crackled from the old radio, a favourite of Mr Weasley. Hermione's eyes ran over her second family and she smiled happily, before her eyes landed on Fred, who was looking straight back at her. He waggled his eyebrows and winked, before a funny look came across his face and he turned away. Hermione's mind ran at a thousand miles a minute; that was the second time in one day she had caught him staring!

Fred silently shook his head to himself. He didn't understand his sudden infatuation with the brunette bookworm. He had been silently appreciating her for a few months now, marvelling at the way she chewed on her quills when she was concentrating, and how she always twirled her hair around her finger when she was daydreaming. All of these little things had just crept up on him and he didn't quite understand it.

One by one, the Weasleys trailed off to bed as the clock slowly dwindled away. Christmas Day was inching ever closer and they knew tomorrow would be an early start, especially with the twins, who always though five o'clock in the morning was an appropriate time to wake everyone up for presents.

All but two people had gone to bed. Fred and Hermione basked in the glowing warmth of the fire in a comfortable silence. A silence Fred wanted to remedy... Fred looked over at Hermione, thinking hard for a topic of conversation.

Just as Hermione stood up to go to bed, Fred's mouth quickly opened.

"Granger, I don't think I've ever seen you have so much fun in my entire life. You looked as if you were having a grand old time out there today" He said, his eyes sparkling at her. She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

"Well, you've obviously never seen me read a good book then!" She retorted, finding herself sink back into her comfy arm chair.

"I guess I haven't" He replied, watching her. He smiled at her. "Maybe I should watch you some time, then" Not that he doesn't already. Hermione smirked back at him.

"Maybe…" She trailed off, her eyes looking at nothing in particular as she realized she had just flirted with him. "It's getting pretty late, we should probably go to bed" She said softly and Fred agreed, nodding his head slowly. He had gotten somewhere, at least. And she had even flirted with him, even if it was only a little bit.

"Right. I'll just put out the fire first, and we can go up together?" Fred stood up, flicking his wand at the fire and then turning to Hermione. "Right! Off to bed we go!" He gleefully exclaimed, looping his arms through hers and skipping up the stairs. Hermione almost had to run to keep up with him.

"Shh, Fred, you'll wake everyone up!"

"Nonsense, Granger. When George and I were younger we would run up and down these stairs a million times at night and never wake a soul. Not even the ghoul in the attic!" As if on cue, the pipes crumbled and the walls rattled. Hermione laughed softly.

"Not a soul, hey?"

"Well, maybe we woke the ghost a few times…" Fred shrugged it off and together they walked towards the room Hermione shared with Ginny. When they reached the door, they stood looking at each other for a while.

"Well, this is my stop…" She said quietly, her eyes boring into Fred's electric blue ones. He found himself inching closer to her.

"Yeah… good night, Hermione" He whispered.

"Goodnight Fred" She whispered right back. Fred found himself leaning closer to Hermione, his hand bringing itself up to her cheek. Their lips connected softly for just a moment, before Hermione pulled back, her face growing red. She turned quickly, and shot inside the door, and Fred ran his hand through his hair, cursing himself silently. Why did he kiss her? She wasn't interest in him, she hated all the pranks that he did and always thought he was immature! Kissing her was stupid.

Hermione flopped into her bed, her hand touching her lips. It felt electric, when he kissed her. It shocked her, and she froze up completely, making such a fool of herself. He would never like her, he was probably just tired and not thinking straight.

Fred trudged back to his room with George, his mind reeling. How stupid could he have been? Why did he kiss her? She obviously didn't like it at all, as she had recoiled quickly, and he would be fooling himself if she did.

Both Hermione and Fred fell into an uneasy sleep, both thinking about each other as they tossed and turned all night.

Sunlight streamed through the windows as Fred and George each threw each other respectively onto Ginny and Hermione's beds. They had argued outside the door about who would wake which girl up, and George, guessing his twin's dilemma concerning a certain bookworm, refused to wake Hermione up, insisting it should be Fred, who fought back. Eventually, George had succumbed and found himself shaking Hermione and jumping all over her to wake her up.

"Oi! Granger! Bookworm! Nerd! Wake up! It's Christmas! Come on, everyone is waiting on you!" He yelled into her ear. Hermione rolled over and groaned, smacking George away. Fred had successfully woken Ginny up by tickling her, and now they were both watching George try to wake Hermione.

"Come on, Granger! Freddie here will have to smooch you if you don't!" He taunted. Hermione shot up, her blankets falling away to reveal a thin and worn pyjama top that was just a bit too small. Fred's eyes bugged and Hermione grabbed at her blanket to cover herself.

"What did you say, George?" Hermione blanched and George only laughed and grabbed his twin's hand, pulling him from the room.

"Come on ladies! Down quickly! Present time!" Ginny and Hermione stared at each other and Ginny winked at her friend.

"I bet you would have liked that, hey Hermione!" She laughed, and her comment was met with a pillow to the face.

Meanwhile, outside the room, Fred had George on the floor and was pummelling him.

"Brat! Why'd you say that, huh?!" He yelled, rubbing his fist into George's head. George couldn't stop laughing as he rolled around.

"It was a joke, Freddie! Honestly! Blimey!" He chortled. Fred climbed off his brother and stomped off, George skipping behind him, laughing all the way. Hermione and Ginny got dressed quickly, before heading down to meet everyone else.

"Merry Christmas!" They chorused as they entered the room, their eyes immediately finding the large pile of presents that had magically appeared there since everyone went to bed. They found their seats on the floor and sat cross legged as Mrs Weasley began handing out presents to everyone. The first thing Hermione's hands found was the softest present, her Weasley jumper. It was a lovely beige colour, with her initials elegantly sewed into the material in gold cursive. She quickly traded it for the old red and green Christmas jumper she already had on. She watched everyone else pull on theirs with a smile, it was obviously a favourite with everyone. She then began unwrapping the rest of her presents. Books on magical healing from Harry and Ron, a magical hairbrush charmed to brush out even the most craziest of knots from Ginny, some chocolates and magical candy from Bill and Charlie and some old muggle classics from Percy, who had just arrived and shared her love of books. The last present looked to be a book, and as she opened it, she gasped. A beautiful dragon skin journal in a deep brown and greenish colour greeted her, and as she ran her fingers over it gently, her name appeared at the bottom: "_Hermione Jean Granger_". She opened the journal and a note fell out, and she scrambled to pick it up.

_Hermione, _

_Use to the best of its abilities._

_Merry Christmas, bookworm!_

_Love, _

_Fred and George (mostly Freddie though!)_

_(Not true Georgie!)_

_(Is true, Freddie!)_

_(Nuh uh!)_

_(Yes uh!) _

Hermione giggled at the note and slid it inside the journal, and looked at Fred, who was, unsurprisingly, staring at her again.

She let a smile grace her features as she mouthed a "thank-you" to him. He grinned brightly, and Hermione's heart thumped that little bit more.

"Breakfast time!" Mrs Weasley called as she bustled into the kitchen. Mr Weasley waved his wand, and all the discarded wrapping paper disappeared.

The merry band of magical folk gathered around the table as everybody helped themselves to the feast cooked up by Mrs Weasley, fit for an army of kings. Hermione found herself squashed between Harry and Ron, and she was easily engaged in conversation with them. She marvelled at the magical healing books, saying they would help her a lot, and Ron thanked her over and over again for the collector's edition Chudley Cannons ultimate fan guide book she had got him. She had jokingly written on the card it would be that it would be the only book he would enjoy reading. Harry was equally happy for the handmade scrap book she had made him, complete with photos from when his parents were in Hogwarts all the way up to just a few weeks ago. She had managed to collate many happy memories and she was quite proud of herself.

Breakfast continued way into the morning as people helped themselves to more food... Around lunch time, Mrs Weasley brought out a massive Christmas feast. Turkey, ham, chicken, pork, vegetables, salads, mashed and baked potatoes, everything you could dream of. Hermione didn't think she had ever eaten so much in her life. This time around, she found herself next to Fred. He leaned down close to her ear.

"Do you like the journal, Hermione?" He asked her and she nodded, her mouth full of food. She swallowed it.

"I love it, thank-you Fred" She replied and he smiled. Then, in a completely unexpected action, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, before blushing furiously and turning back to her food. He grinned, allowing himself to bask in the awesomeness he knew he had gained from giving her the present. He knew as soon as he saw it that it was the perfect present for her. He had even added some extra magic so that only she could open it and it would recognize her through her fingerprint... He sat back in his chair, satisfied with his brilliant thinking.

She ate the rest of her lunch quietly and once she was full she stood up and started to help Mrs Weasley with the cleaning up, who gave her a grateful smile.

Once the kitchen was clean, everyone piled back into the lounge room, talking amongst themselves. However, Fred and George were missing.

Up in their room, Fred was pacing back and forth and George was chuckling.

"I've never seen you this nervous, Freddie! You must really have a thing for her"

"Of course I do! Merlin, I can't get her out of my mind! I just wish I knew how she felt about me! I could either be the immature big brother of her best mate, or the devilishly handsome bloke she can't get out of her mind! I just don't know! I mean she loved the journal! She even kissed me as a thankyou! But was it a friendly kiss or was it a romantic kiss?" Fred flopped onto the bed with a loud groan and George raised an eyebrow at his twin. "Georgie, I've never been this into a girl before! I don't know what to do!" George rolled his eyes and went to sit by Fred.

"Go talk to her, mate. Get her outside. She likes the snow. It will be all romantic and stuff"

Fred nodded. "Okay! I'll do it! I'll go talk to her!" Fred stood up with renewed confidence and went to march out of the door before marching straight to the bed. "Nope, can't do it!" George grabbed his twin's arms and turned him around, forcing him out the door.

"Yes you can! You're Fred Weasley for Merlin's sake!" He exclaimed.

Fred slowly made his way down the stairs and spotted Hermione. He was taken away by the way the fire danced off her face, creating a warm red flush in her cheeks. She had a content smile on her face and as if she knew he was watching her, she looked up and met his eyes. He took a deep breath and motioned her to him, before walking into the kitchen and out the door. Confused, Hermione followed, her heart beating a little faster. Mr and Mrs Weasley exchanged knowing looks, while everyone watched on, wondering what was going on between the two.

"Fred?" Hermione asked as she followed him out into the snow, forgetting to grab her coat from the stand. He led her over to the bench in the backyard under the big tree, and cleared the snow off with his wand, motioning for her to sit down. She did, and he sat opposite her. He ran a hand through his hair again, messing it up and took a deep breath.

"Merlin, I'm not very good at this am I?" He mumbled to himself, out loud.

"Not good at what, Fred?" Hermione asked, looking at him. Fred sighed again and met her eyes.

"Just… let me talk. And don't say anything until I finish okay?" He asked of her, and she nodded. "Alright. Merlin. Okay. Alright. Hermione, I'm sure you've noticed I've been looking at you a lot lately. I don't really know why myself but I just can't help it, you just… you just… you entrance me" Fred let out a huge sigh, as if a weight lifted from his shoulders. "I don't know how to say it, Hermione, but lately, I've been having feelings that I'm not very used to, and I don't know if you feel them too but I certainly do. My heart races whenever I'm around you, and I start to stutter and I don't know what to say and I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself which is a bit silly because I'm Fred Weasley and making a fool of myself is what I do…. And I don't know what I'm trying to say right now, because I wasn't really planning on making this speech and I wouldn't even be out here if it wasn't for Georgie and I guess…. Well…. I guess I wanna say…." Fred ran his hand through his hair before noticing that Hermione was shivering. "Blimey! You're cold! Oh Merlin, I should have waited for you to grab a coat. Here have mine!" He jumped from his seat and ran to her, shrugging off his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. His hand brushed the back of her neck for a brief moment and it made his mind go a bit fuzzy at the feeling of her bare skin, but he shook his head. His knelt down beside her, taking her hands, and his face went a bit red as he continued on. "Hermione Granger, I really, really, really like you. And I don't know why because we're polar opposites, you being a bookworm…" she let out a giggle at that. "And me being… well, me. And I know you probably don't feel the same because I'm just immature and all I do is prank and mess around, but I just had to tell you before I went crazy" Fred fell silent as Hermione studied him. He slowly stood up, defeated when she didn't reply after a few minutes.

Hermione's brain was going mental. Fred Weasley liked her back! Amazing, gorgeous, talented, funny Fred Weasley! Her heart stopped when he stood up, looked at her one more time, before turning to leave and one strangled word left her.

"Wait" was all she could say, and Fred stopped immediately, turning back to her. She was standing with feet wide apart, and looked the epitome of strength and beauty, and yet again he was struck with how amazing she was. She slowly walked towards him and a tiny bit of hope entered his mind.

"Why me?" She asked, and his shoulders shrugged.

"I don't really know…. There is that muggle saying, though, isn't there? Different things attract? Conflicting things attract?"

"Opposites attract" Hermione answered for him, and Fred nodded with a smile.

"That's it!"

And it was true, Hermione thought. Opposites do attract. And they were as opposite as two people could ever be. They stepped closer together as their eyes met once more. Fred's hand stroked Hermione's cheek, and his other hand touched the small of her back, pulling her against him.

"I love the way the cold makes your cheeks flush. It's beautiful" He said softly, and Hermione flushed even more, making Fred laugh. For the second time in two days, their lips met once again. However, Hermione didn't pull away this time. She pulled closer, wrapping her arms around Fred's neck, as he looped his around her waist. Electricity soured between the two, and as the snow began to fall once more, Hermione couldn't think of a better way to end Christmas.


End file.
